DeFranco named fulltime township manager
BY SCOTT SULLIVAN EDITOR The Saugatuck Township Board, looking for both competence and consistency, hired Daniel DeFranco April 13 as full-time manager for a 3-year contract paying $75,000 per annum. DeFranco, a township resident whose résumé includes a Ph.D. in…
Douglas Blue Star rebuild to begin
BY SCOTT SULLIVAN EDITOR Screw trees budding, flowers blooming and warmth stealing over the land. In spring what road workers’ fancy turns to is asphalt plans reopening. To that end, Douglas plans to button up its $573,378.25 streets renovation project…
Waste collection day to return May 24
BY SCOTT SULLIVAN EDITOR The Tri-Community Recycling Committee will present its second annual Household Hazardous Waste Day collection Tuesday, May 24, at the Saugatuck Department of Public Works building, 3338 Blue Star Hwy., from 3 to 7 p.m. Saugatuck Township…
Mike’s Musings: Flying and masks- time to move on
As a frequent flyer the last two years have been trying with the mask mandate put in place by our federal government. Flying this past Sunday only exacerbated the situation.Flying out of Orlando is always a challenge but Sunday “takes…
Blue Star
By Scott SullivanEditorHeir Conditioning“If you went on sabbatical, my wife asked me, “where?”“Phuket.”“What?”“Phuket, Thailand,” I said. “It’s one of Travel + Leisure’s 50 Best Places to Travel in 2022.”“Why heed that tripe?” she asked.“Tripe? It’s gospel,” I said. “I learned…
Life as Performance Art
By G.C. StoppelSince I started writing murder mysteries, I have developed a new appreciation for flower and vegetable gardening.There are so many wonderful and deadly chemicals on the garage shelf or garden shed — herbicides, insecticides, cleaning products and more.…
Saugatuck boys take first at invite
By Jason WesseldykSports Editor KELLOGGSVILLE—The Saugatuck boys track team won four events in the White Division of the Kelloggsville Rocket Invitational on Friday, April 15.Benny Diaz accounted for three of those victories.Diaz won the 100-meter dash (11.1 seconds), the 110…
Developer can remove sand, not expand lake
By Scott SullivanEditorA Saugatuck Township developer cited last spring for over-digging a ski lake will be allowed to remove the resulting sand piles from his 47-acre site northwest of Blue Star Highway.But Chad VanHorn, per the Michigan Environment, Great Lakes…
Easter fun returns
Traditional Easter festivities — bonnet contest, parade and kids’ egg/candy hunt — returned to Douglas Sunday courtesy Ruoff Mortgates. For more pictures, see inside. (Phtoo by Scott Sullivan)
Saugatuck expands Social District year-round
BY SCOTT SULLIVAN EDITOR Remember Saugatuck’s off-season Social District, launched two years ago to help licensed downtown alcohol-selling businesses to deal with indoor Covid-19 social distancing strictures? Now, as in neighbor Douglas, it will extend year-round. City council Monday agreed…
Douglas Easter festivities return Sunday
BY SCOTT SULLIVAN EDITOR Easter festivities will return to downtown Douglas this Sunday after two years off due to Covid-19 restrictions. Fun, sponsored by Ruoff Mortgages, will include a bonnet contest, parade and egg hunt in the downtown area. The…
Hutchins Lake marina hearing set
BY SCOTT SULLIVAN EDITOR A developer’s marina proposal for Hutchins Lake two miles southwest of Fennville will be subject of a state online public hearing Monday, May 9, starting at 6 p.m. David DeGroot of the DeGroot Family is seeking…
Campbell work to cost cities more
BY SCOTT SULLIVAN EDITOR Dig in, who knows what you’ll find? Such is the case with Campbell Road improvements being shared by Saugatuck and Douglas, project engineers say. Saugatuck’s council Monday approved the city’s additional $17,400 share of the $39,500…
Mistake from lest week
Last week’s story “City OKs plan for structure already built” was based on erroneous Douglas Planning Commission draft minutes posted by the city accidentally. The Dunes Resort did demolish a pool onsite lacking proper permits — because of a miscommunication…
Obituary-Linda VanderLaan
Linda Jane VanderLaan, age 81, of Fennville passed away Wednesday, April 6, 2022 at Douglas Cove Healthcare Center. Born to William and Virginia (Bierly) Lucus of Columbus, Ohio on Jan. 31, 1941. Linda was raised as the oldest of three daughters…
Colleges should focus on more practical, less theory
By Mike WilcoxPublisherI read a report a few days ago that lamented the decline in college enrollment in the state of Michigan, and the United States for that matter.Here, Central Michigan University was down nearly 50 percent over the past…
Life as Performance Art
By G. Corwin StoppelRobert “Bob” Ingersoll died just before the 20th century started and his name soon slipped into obscurity. Like his father, Congregationalist Rev. Robert Ingersoll, he was a target and magnet because of his outspoken and frequently unpopular…
Blue Star
By Scott SullivanEditorOops …We are all heirs to being human. Divine is another matter. Last week’s front page had not one but two stories sharing misinformation based on errant sources.As a journalist I can get away with, “I guarantee it…
Campbell Road work to cost cities more
By Scott SullivanEditorDig in, who knows what you’ll find? Such is the case with Campbell Road improvements being shared by Saugatuck and Douglas, project engineers say.Saugatuck’s council Monday approved the city’s additional $17,400 share of the $39,500 added engineering services…
